From North Adams, MA, I turned south off of SR 2 onto Notch
Road, and headed towards the Mount Greylock State Reservation. About two
miles after the road enters the reservation, it turns directly south again.
Around this point I found a parking area called "Wilbur's Clearing", at 2285 ft,
just south of where the Appalachian Trail crosses Notch Road. There was a
large sign at the parking area, and also good trail maps. There are some
trails leaving directly from the parking area, but I headed north a few yards to
the Appalachian Trail, and started east, and uphill, at 10:30 am. The
fairly steep trail was very well marked here, lots and lots of white blazes.
The trail was obvious, and there were no intersections with any other trails.
Seemingly impossible to get lost...

I was sweating pretty good in the warm and humid conditions, but
made pretty good time, reaching the summit of Mount Williams, 2951 ft, in less
than forty minutes. At the summit there was a small rocky area, and I took
a short break to check it out, and continued on. Unfortunately, my sense
of direction failed me at this point. I convinced myself that the way I
needed to continue was the way I had actually come. I was not using my GPS
due to the tree cover, so I didn't have the 'electronic bread crumbs' to clue me
in that I was now going backwards. I didn't check the compass either,
after all, I was 'sure' which way I needed to travel. My path now took me
steeply downhill, rather than gently down to a saddle along a ridge as I was
expecting. Nonetheless, I continued on, failing to recognize the trail as
the one I had just ascended, until I lost about 550 feet of elevation, almost
all the way back to the road. Finally, I checked the altimeter, and
realized that I had to be off course. I turned back and returned to the
summit of Mount Williams. Remaining confused as to which way to go (I
*still* hadn't figured out that I had been going backwards), I was scratching my
head when I met another hiker who pointed me the right way. Finally, I
headed south towards Greylock, on the gentle descent I had expected in the first
place. I know one of the rules is to expect to be going the wrong way at
least some of the time, but this was embarrassing.

After about 2 miles of relatively level hiking, the trail
started steeply uphill again until reaching the summit, which I tagged at 1:22
pm. The views were, unfortunately, somewhat hazy. I climbed the
tower (many fewer steps than the New Jersey highpoint tower), admired the view,
then came back down and had some lunch. I started back the way I had come,
but this time, before making the final climb to Mount Williams, I headed left
(west) on a trail heading towards Notch Road. (I think this was the 'Old
Summit Road'.) This was more overgrown, and not as well maintained, as the
AT, but definitely a less steep descent. (Besides, I had already descended
almost all of the AT from Mount Williams, anyways!) This trail came out
right at the parking area and my waiting car. After a refreshing beverage,
I continued on towards Connecticut and Mount Frissell.

Mount Williams summit.

Views from the summit tower.

Monument near the summit.

Summit tower, which you can climb.

Map of the trails in the area. I picked this up at the trailhead.

References

Highpoints of the United States, Don W.
Holmes, University of Utah Press, 2000.
Mt. Greylock State Reservation & Greylock Glen Trail Map - Department of
Conservation and Recreation
I picked this map up at the trailhead. Part of it is reprinted above.